Albertapolis Freeway Tornado
WIP On Monday May 5, 2036, 118 tornadoes struck the US states of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, The Dakotas, Nebraska, Colorado and Missouri. During the outbreak more than 270 tornadoes were reported but many of them were ruled out due to the following factors: tornado size, tornado strength, and outer circulatory winds of tornadoes wider than two miles. The outbreak's first killer tornado began at 9am Central Daylight Time and became known as the Albertapolis Freeway Tornado, due to it having followed Interstate 35 (Albertapolis Freeway) all the way to Minneapolis. Albert Lea \ The tornado formed rapidly north of Bristol in Iowa at 9am CDT, and crossed the state line into Minnesota as a wedge-shaped behemoth traveling nearly 40 miles per hour, with winds of over 300 miles per hour. The tornado sucked 80-percent of the water out of Silver Lake before entering Minnesota. At 904am, it was recorded at nearly 2 miles wide by a hellachopper based in Albert Lea. The pilots of the hellachopper realized the tornado had the city in its sights, and issued the world's second-ever Vigilante Tornado Warning. The tiny municipality of Twin Lakes was completed destroyed. All 175 of the community's residents were quickly killed. The tornado's circulation winds blasted nearby Power Twin Lake, creating a tsunami-like surge of water that leveled a forest. Soon afterward, while the chopper was still tailgating the 2-miles-wide tornado as it was paralleling United States Highway 69, the tornado's circulation caught the chopper in mid-air, sending it crashing in a wheat field adjacent to the road, killing all four people on board. In Albert Lea, as news broadcasts of the tornado in Bemidji came to light, mixed with the new Vigilante Tornado Warning, citizens panicked and tried to evacuate their city as well. However, this tornado, at nearly 3 miles wide and traveling at 85 miles per hour, was approaching from the south, forcing all the evacuees to move east on US 65 and then north on the Albertapolis Freeway. Traffic soon jammed all six lanes of the interstate with cars, creating the longest traffic jam in American history, stretching from Albert Lea to Minneapolis. At 930am, the tornado crossed Pickerel Lake just southwest of the city, removing most of the water in the lake. The tornado's winds extended far beyond the visible funnel, causing destruction to structures before the tornado itself even arrived, catching the city off guard. Eight cars on US-69 were thrown for six miles, with a tractor-trailer flying for just over four miles and landing on the ground in an unrecognizable heap. A total of 17 people died in their vehicles alone. The tornado leveled some grain elevators and then entered the city at EF5 intensity from the south, traveling at 72 miles per hour. Numerous well-constructed homes were swept off their foundations before their occupants even know the tornado was coming. Many concrete foundations were also badly damaged by a combination of debris and the tornado's extremely-power sub-vortices. Traveling to the northeast, the tornado carved a path of destruction through the city, moving towards downtown. Many roads built with concrete experienced severe structural damage, with entire chunks of concrete in downtown Albert Lea getting completely peeled off the ground. The tornado acted like a chainsaw as it progressed through Albert Lea on a north-northeast heading, as the debris it was carrying further pulverized all standing structures. Both medical campuses in the city were completely razed before they could be evacuated, resulting in nearly 5-thousand deaths from the medical complexes alone. A power-line distribution plant northeast of the city along the Albertapolis Freeway took a direct hit. The plant serves the southern counties of Minnesota and three north Iowa counties, and with the plant's destruction came a region-wide power failure, the fourth largest in Minnesota history. At 932am, the winds on the eastern side of the tornado blew the Freeborn County Fairgrounds off the map. Fifteen seconds later, the Albert Lea airport took a direct hit from the storm, causing multiple aircraft to tumble through the sky. One Cessna plane that was once parked at the airport was later found containing a dead family of three in Nora Springs in Iowa, 40 miles to the south-southeast. The tornado crossed Interstate 90, flinging cars for great distances. The interstate was heavily damaged by the blender-like combination of wind and debris. An exit sign on the eastbound lanes was dislodged by the wind, and soared for dozens of miles, falling to earth in South Dakota and sticking out of the ground like a knife. Clarks Grove \ At 937am, the small town of Clarks Grove, having a population of 1-thousand-438, was entirely destroyed as the 3-mile-wide tornado passed over it with a forward speed of 70 miles per hour. In less than a minute, 1-thousand-372 people lost their lives, and all 66 survivors suffered serious injuries. The tornado decelerated slightly to 65 miles per hour at 939am and continued to travel on a north-northeast heading towards Geneva and Interstate 35's Exit 22. Thea Durance, a resident of Albert Lea and an experienced storm chaser, was alerting weather authorities from her truck at the corner of 740th Avenue and 283rd Street, one mile west of the visible funnel, as her daughter sat in the back filming the event on her camcorder. A stationary Doppler-On-Wheels sitting a couple-hundred yards south of Durance observed wind-speeds of 470 miles per hour in the tornado at 20 feet above the ground. Geneva \ The tornado continued to parallel the Albertapolis Freeway at 74 miles per hour. Many cars on the freeway were moved several-dozen feet by the tornado's outer winds, all without being touched by the tornado itself. Fourteen structures in the town of Geneva were moderately damaged by the hail of debris and wind. No casualties in or around Geneva, including on that stretch of Interstate 35, were caused. Ellendale \ The tiny towns of Ellendale and Hope took direct hits as well. All 740 people in Ellendale were killed. The community of Hope and its grain elevators were swept cleanly away. Owatonna and Medford \ The tornado lost strength at 944am near Southwest 58th Street and its overpass with Interstate 35, but it was still at EF5 intensity. Thea Durance began following the tornado toward the city of Owatonna on surface roads, being careful to maintain a 2-mile distance. At 945am, Governor of Minnesota Jessica Anthony-Hollis was made aware of the Vigilante Tornado Warning and upgraded it to a Tornado Emergency for all cities within 10 miles of Interstate 35. Panic was setting in for the city's residence, who had gotten the Tornado Emergency via Facebook, Twitter, text, or other means, and they began to attempt an eastward evacuation of the city. The tornado weakened again at 948am and then started impacting Owatonna at Exit 40. Both overpasses at the interchange were slightly damaged, with guardrails having been twisted off and punctured by debris. Several-dozen golfers at the Owatonna Country Club were caught off guard by the size of the tornado. They stood watching it in shock until the last second. The country club and all its visitors were wiped out. It is likely that the golfers did not know it was a tornado due to its unconventionally-wide structure. In all, 42 people at the country club died. A forested city park just east of the country club was literally mowed down by the tornado's outer winds. The massive trees in the park were torn from the earth and thrown all over the city. After striking the park, the tornado began shrinking to 1.3 miles wide and it had weakened significantly, with winds now down to 190 miles per hour, and its outer circulation winds down to only a half-mile of the visible condensation funnel. The tornado followed the Albertapolis Freeway directly while in Owatonna, missing the heart of the city. it was still plenty strong enough to throw cars and trucks for a dozen feet, but at this point the tornado was only at EF2 intensity. Four-hundred-sixty people died in Owatonna, most of whom were stuck by flying pieces of debris. The industrial areas to the west side of the Albertapolis Freeway were moderately damaged, with the roofs of some warehouses partially ripped off and some walls caving in. The tornado directly hit the Owatonna Hospital at EF2 strength at 952am, moving at 73 miles per hour at a width of 1.5 miles. The hospital, although taking a direct hit, was only slightly damaged, and lost power for four minutes. Two people in the hospital died indirectly when the power loss resulted in the failures of their oxygen equipment. The airport just north of the hospital was engulfed by the tornado but emerged thirty seconds later with minor damage. The tornado ruffled the shingles on the Cabela's store in Clinton Falls as people sought shelter in the center of the store. There were no deaths or injuries in Clinton Falls. At 955am, the tornado hit the outlet mall in Medford traveling 78 miles per hour and EF2 intensity. Six people people died at the outlet mall while running for safety. Faribault \ The tornado crossed Interstate 35 at 10am and hit the city of Faribault while maintaining a width of 1 mile and a wind-speed of 150 miles per hour. Homes were lightly damaged by flying trash from the tornado. Although the downtown core was directly hit, only 18 of the city's 25-thousand residents died here. The tornado traveled 8 miles in 10 minutes with little or no damage to the land or buildings. But a 1012am, the tornado abruptly re-intensified to EF5 strength, just as it was barreling down on Hazelwood, a tiny collection of only 16 homes along the Albertapolis Freeway. By the time the storm had passed, no trace of Hazelwood could be found. All 30 people who lived there were killed, and 28 of the victims were never found. 'Minneapolis Saint Paul Metro' The tornado tracked across several warm lakes before breaching Lakeville at 1020am. The entire western edge of the city, the area between Lake Marion and Interstate 35, was leveled at EF5 intensity. The tornado's circulation winds further extended the damage into the center of the city. Officials rated the damage to the remainder of the city at EF3 to mid-EF4 from the circulation winds alone. Many people saw the destruction happening from Mills Fleet Farm and went inside hastily for shelter. The store was completely swept away. All 285 people who were in the store died. Immediately after destroying Mills Fleet Farm, the tornado suddenly shrank down from almost two miles to just under ¾ of a mile. At Exit 86, the tornado shrank again to 300 feet but it was still producing EF5 damage to everything within 1.5 miles of the condensation funnel. The retail development immediately surrounding the interchange between Interstate 35-East, 35-West, and Minnesota Highway 42 was leveled. The weakening tornado proceeded north between Interstate 35-West and Nicollet Avenue, destroying numerous homes. The administration building for Burnsville School District was severely damaged at EF4 strength. The tornado crossed Minnesota-Highway 13 and then quietly faded away, just before it would have destroyed a Walmart. A'ftermath' The tornado became the deadliest single tornado in recorded history, shattering the previous world record of 1-thousand-300 people, a record held by the Daulatpur–Saturia tornado in Bangladesh in 1989. Category:Deadly Tornadoes Category:Tornadoes Category:Violent Tornadoes Category:F5/EF5 Tornadoes Category:Catastrophic Tornadoes